Beginning with E. Schrader (Cuneiform Inscriptions and the Old Testament, vol II (1888), pp 299ff) this king was usually associated with Hammurabi, who ruled in Babylon from 1792 BC until his death in 1750 BC. However, according to The Oxford Companion to the Bible, this view has been largely abandoned in recent years. According to John Van Seters in Abraham in History and Tradition, the existence of Amraphel is unconfirmed by any sources outside the Bible.

In the Midrash and the later Rabbinical literature, Amraphel was identified with Nimrod (this is also attested to in the 11th Book of Jasher).